Hello!
I have very fond memories of La Rochelle because as 15-year old I spent two weeks there on an unforgettable sailing course with 420 dinghies in (sometimes) really rough Atlantic weather. That sailing school still exists after 35 years: I also remember barbecues at lunchtime on the beach of the Ile de Ré. Beautiful place!
As a corporate aviator I am not the master of my calendar. I will know if I can participate at best two days in advance, therefore any suggested date is a good date (or bad date, depending on how you look at it...). Also, as a GA pilot by profession, I do not have sufficient income to pay for that kind of trip on my own. But it should not be difficult to find two or three students to join me for the trip who will fly the various sectors.
648 NM aginst the wind, not close, not someware in the middel of europe ;-(
Cheshunt, sorry it's not closer to you. Obviously it's impossible to please everyone and a popularity vote seemed the only reasonable way to please most possible.
Surely if it's against the wind one way then it's with the wind going the other?
Noted. I hope for good weather (VFR) and for a good schedule planning. I´ll have to bet on one date however as we only do get one weekend off per month.
La Rochelle is about 3 hours flight time from ZRH, need to figure out the restricted areas enroute, but should be easily feasible with my airplane.
Questionis, are we going to define a fly in hotel and book there so we are together? I also would suggest a list of who is coming with what airplane to be set up in the near future.
Looking foward to see some of you finally for the first time. Best regards Urs
Sorry, count me out. As a renter pilot, this is simply too far for me from Germany for just a quick fly-in.
Pity that a lot of people are already pulling out. I have to say I also think it is not in a location which would guarantee a lot of attendees, simply because the majority of users of this forum are either in the UK or Germany/Switzerland by the looks of it. I can probably make it but yes, with 6 hours flying time both ways, it is pretty steep for a weekend trip.
I have to say that the 3 runners up would have been much more convenient for most of us, also much more realistically reachable in borderline meteo.
Another thing which I wonder: has La Rochelle got customs? Both UK and Switzerland need customs to fly to France. If not, I´d have to say it doesn´t make much sense if intermediate landings are needed.
has La Rochelle got customs?
Yes; we would not have put anything on the list (well, there was just 1, and marked thus) that did not have Customs and Avgas, since that would make it a big hassle for anybody from UK, Switzerland, Croatia, etc.
also much more realistically reachable in borderline meteo.
It has an ILS, and a GPS/RNAV approach, and you can't ask for more than that.
For VFR, it is on the coast which improves the options there too. If you have an airport surrounded by "terrain" then one cannot go there "VFR" unless it is practically CAVOK.
If the weather is not VFR we will cancel, and fall over to the second date.
Pity that a lot of people are already pulling out
It's a pity that some cannot make it, but I think that a democratic vote was the correct way to go about this. Anything else, and one was going to be open to suggestions about a deal having been done by a "bunch of mates" which, let's face it, is what a lot of online flying communities are like. Here on EuroGA we have a lot of diverse people, and everybody is equal.
Of course we can have a different location next year, or even later this year 
6 hours flying time both ways
Zurich to La Rochelle is 442nm. It cannot be 6hrs in any Mooney ever built. Even in my slow TB20 it would be just over 3hrs.
VEBIT T51 HR G4 RLP R11 MOTAL J18 VEROS G54 DEPOM G54 POI
Any reasonable touring aircraft can make La Rochelle from anywhere in Germany. Once you go below that capability, it is impossible to have a fly-in destination which can be reached in one leg by more than a very small % of people in Europe.
Munich is 579nm.
Dortmund is 554nm.
Zagreb is 784nm.
I have to say that the 3 runners up would have been much more convenient for most of us
Your above statement, if ment literally rather than just an expression of fustration, doesn't make much sense. It was a democratic vote. Everyone was allowed to vote for as many place as they would attend. More people said that they'd attend a flyin in La Rochelle than said they would attend if it was somewhere else. (In fact not too far off twice as many.)
La Rochelle was not somewhere that I voted for, as it's really too far for me for a weekend. But I'll see if I can talk some of my pilot friends into sharing the trip and make it more financially justifyable.
As a destination La Rochelle is a beautiful city. Just a pity it's so far from Dublin!
I'll do my best to make it. Boscomantico, Manneim is almost exactly on my route from Prague to La Rochelle. I wanted to refuel at Luxembourg (just for the fun of it), but can switch to Mannheim and pick you up.
Wow, thank you. Should you decide to go, please contact me. My email is at the bottom of this page.
